Global business news twenty four hours a day at Bloomberg dot Com, the Radio plus mobile, last, and on your radio. This is a Bloomberg Business Flash from Bloomberg World Headquarters. I'm Charlie Pellette's stocks are heading for their longest losing streaks since February, down four in a row, this amid growing uncertainty about the UK's future in the European Union. We will have more on that topic the Brexit vote coming up in just a moment. Also, investors are awaiting
tomorrow's Federal Reserve announcement. So here's where we stand. The SMP five hundred index down nine now at two thousand, sixty nine, a drop of five tenths of one percent. Then ASTAT Composite Index down twenty one points to forty six, That is a drop of five tenths of one percent down. Industrials down ninety two points to seventeen thousand, six hundred forty, a drop of five tenths of one percent. Gold up a dollar forty benounced to twelve eighty eight, a gain
there of point one percent. Crude oil West Texas in immediate down fifty three cents for five barrel, down one point one percent, Brent down one and a half percent to forty nine dollars and sixty cents. I'm Charlie Palett and that's a Bloomberg business flash. The Brexit vote on Bloomberg Radio. Brexit. Yes June, the twenty three voters in the United Kingdom will go to the polls to determine whether they will remain in the European Union. And right now in London there is a debate going on with
Boris and Johnson, former Mayor of London. He is debating the Brexit vote. He of course for the Brexit vote. He is debating Alex Salmon of the Scottish National Party, which formerly had voted to remain part of the United Kingdom. Here to tell us more about this is John mickel Twite. He is editor in chief of Bloomberg Editorial. John, thank
you very much for being here. Um, I wonder if you could just describe a little bit about you are interview with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his thoughts about Brexit. Well, the interview with Blair is interesting from this perspective. On the one hand, m Blair said that he expected Britain to remain in the U and to be fair to him, that was before a stream of very negative polls, but the same token, I think it'd be fair to say, and I don't think he
would dispute this too much. A lot of parts of what he might regard as Britain are slightly coming to bits at the moment. You have, um, the sense of that sort of third way we're all together, center left politics that seems to be coming part. There's something very similar to the trumpets about the brexitters. Um, there is great disquiet with the idea of globalization, whether it's through immigration, through elites making too much money, through free trade, all
those things. You know, Britain is arguably the most pro free trade place in the world, but they're still particular disputes that immigration. And then at the end of it, you know, it's just that sense of things that the politics as we thought we knew them beginning to pray a bit, and it could all be all right, It could all be fine in the end. Most people, including me, still expect remain to win, but it's it's very very close.
Is this an instance where anybody who's in the government now formally, I mean, is there a kind of more unity internal there's even less. There's massively less unity because the parties are in the following state, the Conservatives, which are the traditionally euroskeptic party. There you have, I think it's a hundred and something of Cameron's MPs all fighting to leave. Labor is meant to be the party that is sort of fully behind staying that. It's leader Jeremy Corbyn,
extremely left wing man by Americans. I haven't talked to him recently, but he is. He is definitely off the left, but he's also part of the old eurosceptic left. He's quite elderly in these respects, and he you know, he has been at the best, I think, a very lukewarm supporter of staying. In his speeches tend to be saying things along the lines of the European Union is useless at this, terrible at that, awful at this, but I suppose you better remain in it. And strangely that that
appeal doesn't really seem to be working. So you have labor not really helping and and the vote will rely a lot, I think, on on labor voters if it's going to be remained, coming out to do it and The other big problem is the young, who are the other people who in paper look as if they support Remain, but we have no evidence that they're definitely going to get to the polls, whilst the old who want to
leave definitely will. The latest Paul the decision to leave has is at forty six percent, an increase of three, Remain is at forty one point three, decline of about seven tenth of a percent. In your conversation with the former Prime Minister Tony Blair, you spoke a lot He's book about social media and how that can influence not only this but the entire political discussion in a country. Expand on that. Yeah, and there's a bit of that.
I mean, if you look at it's possible. I've got friends and indeed relations are on the Leave side, and you can you can sit in from Leave um Land in the same way as you can sit in Trump Land or for that matter, in Saunders Land. And it means that you can get most of your information from pundits who are intrinsically opposed to the European Union in its many ways. Um. It means also, you know, it's
not just obscure websites. This morning, the Sun, the biggest tabloid in Britain, came out firmly behind Leave, and that's interesting on two counts. One, it is the most powerful sort of political voice in Britain. Rupert Murdoch has never been a great support of the European Union. It's proprietor. But the other thing is Rupert Murdoch doesn't genuinely generally like backing losers, and so the fact that he feels confident enough to come out in in favor of leading
is again another straw in the wind. And at the moment there aren't many good straws in the wind for the remain thing other than the instinct amongst most of the commentary at that probably in the end people will will be sufficiently frightened by what leave could mean. In my view, justifiably well they will say I want to stay.
We had a story recently this week on on Lubrick News the quantity of just modeling for a maxioma coming out with research which suggests there be pretty quickly in equities uk A crees in globle markets if the lead vote goes through, because it would create so much a people. I mean, what happens then I think that's that's it, and that if you were going to explain to the leavers John Mcolthwaite, who you're more of a remainer, what would what would be the So that's the difficult point.
On the one hand, um Leave campaign has gained from the idea that the remainders have tended to exaggerate, UM the horrors of if prison did this, and I think they're right in this respect, is that it's got a pretty strong, big economy. Um, if it leaves the Open Union, it's still houses are still going to stand. There is still going to be something there. Um. On the other hand, I think it is possible to say that the negative
consequences of leaving could actually potentially be quite high. You just have to look at all these things like maybe Scotland leaves the United Kingdom, maybe other bits the Union begin to come to bits and you have this immense As you've said, declining your currency is not a not a small thing to consider. It's certain. Listen, who thought we thought we'd be talking about the better reserve? First?
Ye had two day meeting. I'm sorry to know everyone in the world is looking at that Brexit vote on June. This is taking stock on Bloombird Radio. Coming up on taking stock. While the search for safe haven puts yields under pressure, there's been a big sell off in the bonds of Greece and Portugal. Let's talk about what happens to those countries next